First Night at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

We arrived at Guantanamo Bay safely. It took a while to get settled in.

One of my first tasks was to set up the Gitmo Observer Resource Center, which is a compilation of Military Commission documents, Geneva Conventions, Briefing Books, and office supplies for all of the NGO Observers to use. It is set up in a room called the “NGO Lounge”. All of our Gitmo Observer materials were in a big black trunk, presumably placed there by the last Indiana University McKinney Law School Observer who was down here at GTMO last week.

On the plane to GTMO and while here, several NGO Observers have been reading Gitmo Observer’s Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Manual. They seem to be very intrigued. This 400-page document written by IU McKinney affiliates looks at rights and interests of all stakeholders, including defendants, prosecution, victims, the press and others.

It was freakishly cold last night in our tent. IU McKinney’s GTMO sleeping bag AND electric blanket came in very very handy!

Endorsements

“While [at Guantanamo Bay] I was given a copy of the Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Manual for U.S. Military Commissions. I read it cover to cover. This is simply required reading for anyone who goes [to Guantanamo Bay] to observe. Thank you for the enormous effort it must have taken to produce it.
[NGO Observer, 2014]

After reading the Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Manual, "I feel a high calling to meet the obligations you note for an observer to report what they have observed.”
[NGO Observer, 2014]